All,
I was concerned about a DUI charge on my record and its effect in the citizenship process. Let me begin by saying that the application was approved and I have also received the passport. Wanted to share my experience with others who may be in the same boat as I was and can gain some comfort from this. I know it can get a bit anxious! And one other thing I want to mention here is although I was charged with DUI I was NOT convicted but the charge remained on my record and I had to mark yes for "was I arrested" and "was I charged" in the application.
-The incident happend in 2002.
-I was arrested on DUI charges.
-The charges were NOT pursued by the DA (I will forgo the details here)
-Fast forward to 2007. I was going to be eligible to apply for my citizenship in a few months.
-Started to read about the process and realized that the DUI charge can have a negative impact on me
-Researched a bit more and the general consensus was that I have the arrested expunged from my record since I wasnt convicted
-Contacted a criminal lawyer and presented my case. He was very confident that he could have it expunged and in a few months we obtained a court order to have the record expunged. For all purposes I can "legally" state that I wasnt arrested if I were ever asked BUT in the citizen ship application form they specifically mention to state the arrest details even if it has been expunged.
-So met with a immigration lawyer and asked him how to go about it.
He recommened that I state the truth on the application which I did. He also mentioned that DUI is NOT considered or taken very seriously by USCIS when it comes to moral character. It is definetly at the bottom of the list of crimes like murder, robbery, shoplifting, domestic abuse etc and especially if it is a first and only offence EVEN if the conviction occured. That was a huge sigh of relief.
-Got my call for the interview
-The immigration officer went over my application and asked random questions from the application form.
-When it came to the moral section he asked me if I was arrested and charged to which I said yes but said No to conviction.
His exact words were "Oh-since you have an arrest I have to get this approved by my supervisor, this will cause a slight delay, but shouldnt be a problem at all" - go figure!
-In 2 months I got the call for the oath ceremony and the passport in 2 weeks following that.
Good luck guys with DUI. Do your research, contact a immigration lawyer depending on your case but overall it seems to be lesser of an issue compared to other crimes.
Hope this helps!
I was concerned about a DUI charge on my record and its effect in the citizenship process. Let me begin by saying that the application was approved and I have also received the passport. Wanted to share my experience with others who may be in the same boat as I was and can gain some comfort from this. I know it can get a bit anxious! And one other thing I want to mention here is although I was charged with DUI I was NOT convicted but the charge remained on my record and I had to mark yes for "was I arrested" and "was I charged" in the application.
-The incident happend in 2002.
-I was arrested on DUI charges.
-The charges were NOT pursued by the DA (I will forgo the details here)
-Fast forward to 2007. I was going to be eligible to apply for my citizenship in a few months.
-Started to read about the process and realized that the DUI charge can have a negative impact on me
-Researched a bit more and the general consensus was that I have the arrested expunged from my record since I wasnt convicted
-Contacted a criminal lawyer and presented my case. He was very confident that he could have it expunged and in a few months we obtained a court order to have the record expunged. For all purposes I can "legally" state that I wasnt arrested if I were ever asked BUT in the citizen ship application form they specifically mention to state the arrest details even if it has been expunged.
-So met with a immigration lawyer and asked him how to go about it.
He recommened that I state the truth on the application which I did. He also mentioned that DUI is NOT considered or taken very seriously by USCIS when it comes to moral character. It is definetly at the bottom of the list of crimes like murder, robbery, shoplifting, domestic abuse etc and especially if it is a first and only offence EVEN if the conviction occured. That was a huge sigh of relief.
-Got my call for the interview
-The immigration officer went over my application and asked random questions from the application form.
-When it came to the moral section he asked me if I was arrested and charged to which I said yes but said No to conviction.
His exact words were "Oh-since you have an arrest I have to get this approved by my supervisor, this will cause a slight delay, but shouldnt be a problem at all" - go figure!
-In 2 months I got the call for the oath ceremony and the passport in 2 weeks following that.
Good luck guys with DUI. Do your research, contact a immigration lawyer depending on your case but overall it seems to be lesser of an issue compared to other crimes.
Hope this helps!